Oct 12, 2011

Rakhi Essay | Raksha bandhan Essay - History | Rakhi Gifts | History

By Akbar Ali 
Here historical know how of rakhi festival is explained. This can be taken as hints for writing very special essay on raksha bandhan.
Santoshi Ma:
Ganesh had two sons, Shubh and Labh. On Raksha Bandhan, Ganesh's sister visited and tied a rakhi on Ganesh's wrist. Feeling and his two wives, Raiddhi and Siddhi, for a sister. Finally, Ganesh conceded the demand, and Santoshi Ma (literally the Mother Goddess of Satisfaction) was created by divine flames that emerged from Riddhi and Siddhi.

Krishna and Draupadi:
Another incident from the epic Mahabharat concerns Krishna and Draupadi. Draupadi was wife of the Pandavas. She had once torn a strip of silk off her sari and tied it around Krishna's wrist to staunch the bleeding from a battlefield wound.  Krishna was touched by her action and declared her to be his sister. Even they were unrelated. Krishna promised to repay the debt and then spent the next 25 years doing just that. Draupadi, in spite of being married to five great warriors and being a daughter of a powerful monarch, trusted and depended wholly on Krishna. Krishna repaid the debt of love during the "Cheer-Haran" (literally "clothing-removing") of Draupadi, which occurred in the assembly of King Dhritarashtra when Yudhisthira lost her to the Kauravas in gambling. At that time, Krishna indefinitely extended her saree through divine intervention, so it could not be removed, to save her honor. This is how he honored his rakhi vow toward Draupadi.


King Bali and Goddess Laxmi:
According to a legend the Demon King Bali was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu had taken up the task to guard his kingdom leaving his own dwelling-place in Vaikunth. Goddess Lakshmi wished to be with her lord back in her dwelling-place. She went to Bali disguised as a woman to seek refuge till her husband came back.
During the Shravan Purnima celebrations, Lakshmi tied the sacred thread to the King. Upon being asked, she revealed who she was and why she was there. The king was touched by her goodwill for his family and her purpose and requested the Lord to accompany her. He sacrificed all he had for the Lord and his devoted wife.
 It is said that since then it has been a tradition to invite sisters in Shravan Purnima for the thread tying ceremony or the Raksha Bandhan.

Rani Karnavati and Emperor Humayun:
A popular narrative that is centered around Rakhi is that of Rani Karnavati of Chittor and Mughal Emperor Humayun. When Rani Karnavati, the widowed queen of the king of Chittor, realised that she could not defend against the invasion by the Sultan of Gujarat, Bahadur Shah, she sent a Rakhi to Emperor Humayun. Touched, the Emperor immediately set off with his troops to defend Chittor.Humayun arrived too late, and Bahadur Shah managed to sack the Rani's fortress. When Humayun reached Chittor, he evicted Bahadur Shah from fort and restored the kingdom to Karnavati's son, Vikramjit Singh.

Alexander the Great and King Puru:
According to one legendary narrative, when Alexander the Great invaded India in 326 BC, Roxana (alexander's wife) sent a sacred thread to Porus, asking him not to harm her husband in battle. In accordance with tradition, Porus,  gave full respect to the rakhi. On the battlefield, when Porus was about to deliver a final blow to Alexander, he saw the rakhi on his own wrist and restrained himself from attacking Alexander personally.



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